simon43

Speak Klingon to him?

Although I recently took out a new medical insurance policy with WR Life, I am considering whether it is worthwhile to have such a policy in my own circumstances viz: - I live in north Laos in a small village some 20km away from the nearest town (Luang Prabang). The hospital facilities in that town are very basic. If I were to have a serious medical event, such as a motorbike accident, heart attack or stroke, then I would probably be dead long before I get to the hospital, and even at the hospital only the most basic care can be provided. If I have some minor medical issue then I can pay cash for outpatient treatment. If I have some chronic illness, cancer etc, then I can return to the UK for free treatment on the NHS (long waits for treatment for most things if it's not cancer). Yes, I can pay for medical insurance, but I'm not sure such insurance would be of any help to me if I collapse at home (no-one would even know - I live alone).

Well, here is a post that I made on another forum that I'm not allowed to link to. So I will paste the story below (long story, er.... happy ending!). I thought I was going to die today - no, seriously! (possible box jellyfish) It was just a normal Tuesday for me. Up fairly early to jog the 2km down to 7/1, then walk briskly back. At 8.20, I drove my car to the Burmese community school where I teach as a volunteer. After an hour of teaching, I drove on to the post office in Thong Sala to pick up a parcel from Bangkok. After that, back home and with a couple of hours free before my online lessons, I eat breakfast and I'm ready for the beach! I drive down to the nearby beach, park my car and walk the 300 metres to the sandy beach. Into the water for a swim. I'm swimming on my back and feel a sharp prick at the back of my neck. Then I start to feel lightheaded. Not wanting to drown in the sea, I get out, dress and start to walk back to my car. As I am walking along, I start to feel worse and worse. My hands start kicking out on their own and I'm thinking "I don't need this, what with my (possible) cancer problems". I stagger to a nearby restaurant and ask for some water which they sold me. I'm sitting down and drinking the water and my feet and hands are kicking out and jerking on their own. Am I having a cardiac arrest? No, my heart feels fine. Maybe a stroke? But my head is generally clear and there's no pain. I really don't know what's going on, but I am feeling worse and worse. I call the staff over and tell them to get me an ambulance. All I can think is that a box jellyfish as stung me. I tell them that I have no pain but maybe something stung me in the water. The staff help me to lie down and by now my limbs are jerking uncontrolleably. I'm reasonably lucid and tell the staff as best as can that I don't know what has happened. "Do you have medical insurance?" they ask. Of course I don't because those ****** at April International Insurance just cancelled it a few days ago!! By now I am having trouble breathing and start to repeat the mantra "I do not want to die today, I do not want to die today" over and over again, whilst flapping and jerking around on the floor as the restaurant staff hold my limbs down. The restaurant owner runs over and starts pouring white vineger all over me and rubbing it into my body, presumably to counter the jellyfish sting. Another bottle and another bottle. At one point I looked up and saw her brandishing a large knife, with an unopened vineger bottle in her hand. She sliced the lid closure with the knife, then pulled off the lid with her teeth. I thought for one moment that she was going to take a mouthful of vineger and then spray it all over me, as one might do to exorcise demons! All this time, others had been phoning for an ambulance, which was apparently very slow in arriving. "Where is your passport?" the staff ask. It's in my house. Where is your house? It's in the trees, I try to explain the location, but I'm living in a chalet in the coconut plantations..... What's more, the key to my house is in my car and the car is not at the house and the key to the car is with me and... and... oh f***! Why is everything in the wrong place? Finally the small ambulance arrives and I am placed on a backboard, still jumping around like a shrimp on a hot plate. Placed in the ambulance there are 2 nurses, a pretty woman and the campest ladyboy that I have ever met. "Stop moving around" he scolds me. "As I am having trouble breathing I blurt out "oxygen". The 2 nurses jump up and start opening cupboards, searching for the oxygen tank and mask. I hear them say in Thai "Here it is but it's run out!". All this time, I am absolutely convinced that I am going to die. I'm repeating my mantra and images flash across my brain. You know they say that your whole life flashes across your brain, family, childhood events etc? Well, all I can see are images of hospital bills!! Finally, after a very bumpy ride up and down the hills of Koh Phangan, we arrive at the government hospital. I'm wheeled in and the staff ask me what's going on. "Passport, pasport" they say. I tell them again with great difficulty that it is in my house. But then I remember that I have a scan on my mobile phone. They pass me my phone and then I'm trying to click on the files icon with a finger that is jumping +/- 30cms! Finally I open the files app, but because my finger is jumping around so much, somehow I end up at the oldest picture being displayed. I am trying to swipe the photos to find my passport photo, but all I see are old photos of me with an inane grin, pictures of coconut trees, pictures of coconuts... where is that f***ing passport photo? Finally I find the passport photo. It transpires that the hospital staff called the Thai police, who then used my details to track down my Thai landlord who had thankfully registered my rental details. My landlord arrived later to tell me that the restaurant owner who had helped me was the biggest yaba dealer in the village, a no-good person and so he had double-locked by house in case she had stolen my house key! The nurses carefully examine all over my body and I tell them about the sharp prick that I experienced while in the sea. Under my hair at the back of my head is a very small puncture mark. What made that mark? I have no idea, but whatever it was, the effects are now beginning to slowly wear off. Over the course of 2 hours, the symptoms gradually get less and less. Finally, I am presented with a bill for 690 baht (which my landlord pays), and then he drives me back to where I parked my car in the village. Still feeling somewhat weak, I was able to drive home, cancel my classes for that day and collapse into bed, where I slept for 12 hours. I have no idea what kind of animal stung or bit me. I guess that the proximity of the bite to my brain created some neurological effects so that my limbs became uncontrolleable. Whatever it was, I can honestly say that I thought that my life was about to end in the rickety old ambulance with the ladyboy scolding me. Did I do anything wrong? YES! - I didn't have my passport or copy with me - I didn't have any medical insurance (thanks April). The local government hospital didn't even have a doctor, only nurses. - I didn't have any cash on me - I didn't have a friend's contact number - The mobile phone with me was only subscribed to data, not voice services I'm resting at home today. I will go and take a gift to the yayba dealing restaurant owner who maybe saved my life. Events such as this make you reassess what you are doing and where you are going....

After a couple of health scares, I've soft-retired at 64 years old and retired to a rural house outside Luang Prabang, north Laos. It's about 5km from the stunning kuang si waterfalls ???? There is about 400 square metres available to grow fruit and for my sole consumption - this is not a business and I wouldn't want to compete with the local villagers who sell their home-produce. Here is a picture of half of the land - the other half on the right is for my radio antennas and science projects. Buying fruit and veg is quite cheap in any case, but to get a good choice I need to visit the morning market in LP, some 20km away. So I can avoid a daily trip by growing my own. There is a mango tree on the land which produces tasty fruit ???? Being a complete beginner at growing my own, what can you suggest that will provide a regular crop, with minimal horticulture knowledge required? (I'll use the veg to make salads - today in the market I bought chinese cabbage, bell peppers, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, onions and some plant that I recognised from the salad that I ate in a restaurant recently. This is a nice location, with paddy fields to the back and .. er ... an elephant to the front!

I have been living on the island of Phangan for a while, after being unable to return to my teaching job in Myanmar, (the junta chaps don't like the British government right now!). Phangan is very nice, but I am aware that I am not getting any younger and more likely to have some medical issues as I get older. As I am fairly fit, exercise and have a vegan (ish) diet, the likelyhood of some sudden medical emergency is still low. About 5 weeks ago I was stung by a box jellyfish which normally results in a rapid death. I was extremely lucky to survive, but the experience was very scary and the local hospital could do nothing except watch me to see if I lived or died! They had no kind of medication, even though box jellyfish are common. The locals rubbed vinegar all over me while waiting for the ambulance! I don't expect to find box jellyfish in Chiang Rai of course, but I am thinking to move from Phangan to a rural location which does have a reasonable private hospital, such as Bangkok Chiang Rai hospital. I'd appreciate any comments or experiences of hospital care in Chiang Rai.

I did a blood/urine test today. The results indicated that I currently have bacteria and white cells in my urine (presumably caused by a UTI). My PSA result was 11. My last PSA test a few years ago (and previous to that) had a stable PSA value of about 6, slightly raised due to BPH. In the past couple of years, my BPH symptoms have increased, so I now take a daily tablet to enable me to pee. Should I be worried by the PSA of 11? Dr Google tells me that BPH will increase my PSA and a UTI will also increase it. How long should I wait before repeating the PSA test? I hadn't noticed any UTI symptoms - should I take some medication to sort that out? Thanks.

Concerned about the PM2.5 air quality, and the lack of online data for my location (the websites simply interpolate data from 2 distant monitors in other cities), I bought a monitor off Aliexpress. Well, the unit switches on, displays a PM2.5 value, and that value increases as the smoke density rises. But the values seem completely at odds with the online interpolated data. In my garden, the normal reading is about 20, which I refuse to believe as correct, (Phuket has very clean air and typically has a value of about 50 - I live in the hills with local scrub burning at times). Online data suggests about 70. If I walk past a dusty building site, the value rises to about 55. The monitor is made by a Chinese company called 'Total B0ll0x Factory #5'. Can anyone recommend an accurate air quality monitor that I can buy from Aliexpress (not Lazada - I live in Laos)?

So here is my situation: Having lived in Thailand from 2002, I am now working in Myanmar since about 2012. I'm just working to save money in the bank for my retirement (back in Thailand) in a few years from now. I can't buy a property in Myanmar (property ownership laws), and to be honest, I would much prefer to live in Pattaya (good jogging promenade, wide range of shops etc). I'm not into drinking, bar-girls or boys... So I'm thinking to buy a small condo in Pattaya. But I don't expect to rent it out (only a small rental income, agent fees to be paid etc etc). Here is an added twist - I have some goods in store in Phuket (some of my radio amateur equipment). I don't want to import these temporarily to Myanmar, and I'm stuck paying about 2,000 baht each month in storage fees. Now the storage company is closing down and I need to move my things. So how about this idea: Are there 'rent-to-buy' condos available in Pattaya? That's where I pay an initial deposit, then rent the condo each month, with a legal contract to purchase the condo at a future date, with my rental fees offsetting the purchase price of the condo. I could store my goods in this condo, use it during my biannual breaks in Thailand, and then finally move in when I decide to retire. Suggestions welcome!

Alas, no photos. I spotted a pair of these birds in the rubber trees next to my Phuket hotel. The bird is medium-large, about the size of aBritish Magpie. It seems to be completely black. It sits in the rubber trees and flies between different trees, displaying a very long feathered tail, about the same length as the body of the bird - (so this seems the most identifiable feature). Any Ornithon.. ortnithorn... bird-watchers know what this bird might be?